Weyburn's Kirk Schnell tries to avoid the tackle by Vanier's Nathan Buchko on Tuesday.

The defending champions are finally on the board.  The Vanier Vikings picked up their first win of the season on Tuesday, beating the Weyburn Eagles, 8-7, in a defensive battle at Gutheridge Field.

Vanier head coach Doug Panko says it might not have been pretty, but the win was a big confidence booster, "We certainly needed a win, just to kind of get a bit of a foundation to start building from here for the balance of the season, and for the kids confidence.

"It wasn't the most structured and disciplined game for us offensively, but defensively, it was just an absolutely tremendous effort and we thank the defence for putting us in a position to be successful."

The Vikings defence allowed the Eagles to gain just 93 yards in the game and made big plays during key moments of the game, including an interception by Matt Morris in the fourth quarter following his touchdown run and a sack by linebacker Nicholas Schock on Weyburn's final drive.

Schock says he was proud of the performance put together by the defensive unit, "I'm really thrilled with what we did, when we were pushed to it we beared down and did what we had to, we made some plays and hit them at the line, which is what we needed.

"I don't really know what happened (on the sack)," added Schock.  "I just had a lane open and for a moment there I thought he saw, but I just booked it and made the play."

The game was slow moving in the first half with neither team able to get on the scoreboard, but that changed quickly in the second half.  Weyburn's Bryce MacMillian picked off a throw over the middle by Vanier quarterback Haydenn Terrian and returned it 47 yards for game's opening score.

The Vikings wouldn't get on the board until late in the third quarter when Weyburn conceded a safety to make it 7-2 heading into the fourth.

Vanier put together an impressive drive on their ensuing possession and drove it 57-yards down to the one yard line with Terrian and Morris doing most of the work.  After getting stopped on a 2nd-and-goal from one, Morris finally punched it in for an 8-7 lead.  The two-point convert attempt failed for the Vikings as they tried to go up by three.

Morris picked off Weyburn quarterback Kirk Winter on the Eagles next drive and the Vikings' defence held strong for the rest of the game.

The offence went through Morris for much of the game and he finished the game with five catches for 44 yards and added six rushing yards.  

Terrian had a big game rushing as he carried the ball 13 times for 92 yards, while also passing for 81 yards.  Morris says lots of credit has to go to their quarterback for making the plays when he had to, "When there wasn't someone open, he got down field and picked up the first down.

"It wasn't the best win, but we still got it done."

The win improves Vanier's record to 1-2 on the year, while dropping Weyburn down to 1-2.  Other action on Tuesday had Swift Current improved to 2-1 on the year with a 36-14 win in Estevan, which dropped the Elecs down to 0-3.  No score was reported from the Peacock game in Yorkton.

The High School Football League will be back on the field on Saturday with three games, including a doubleheader at Gutheridge Field.  Vanier will square off with Peacock at 1:00pm and then Estevan follows against Central at 3:15pm.  Weyburn and Yorkton square off in Weyburn at 2:00pm.